Oprah Reads Through Slavery Documents to Remember How Far She Has Come

A wise person once said: In order for you to know where you’re going, you need to know where you came from. Apparently, Oprah Winfrey understands this phrase very well.

The media mogul was a guest on actress Gwyneth Paltrow’s podcast, Goop, and opened up about what she does to overcome troubling days. She revealed that she flips through documents from slavery plantations to get a sense of how far she has come.

I will speak their names out loud. I will speak their names out loud — Douglas, and Jenna, and Carrie, and Sarah and Anna — and their ages, and their prices, and remind myself of how far I have come. And no crisis seems that much of a crisis after you look at the names, the ages, the prices of people who were before you — who made this way possible.

She also looks at a painting called To The Highest Bidder, which is also on display in her home, which shows an African slave holding her baby while awaiting to be auctioned.

Listen to the podcast here.